Liao Xiaoyan (Chinese: 廖晓燕; born 8 January 1987) is a Chinese track and field athlete who competes in the hammer throw. She was the gold medallist at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's athletics | ||
Representing  China
| ||
| Asian Championships | ||
 |
2007 Amman | Hammer throw |
Among her first major national competitions was the 2005 Chinese City Games, where she was runner-up to future Olympic medallist Zhang Wenxiu. While Zhang had the second best throw ever by a youth athlete, Liao's throw of 65.13 m (213 ft 8 in) ranked her the fifth best ever youth at that point.[1] She still ranks within the top ten youth hammer throwers, as of 2015.[2] She established herself within the top senior domestic athletes in the 2005 season.[3] She threw a new personal best of 65.53 m (214 ft 11+3⁄4 in) to place fifth at the Chinese Athletics Championships.[4] She came close to her best in the 2006 season with a mark of 65.34 m (214 ft 4+1⁄4 in).[5]
Liao achieved her personal best of 67.78 m (222 ft 4+1⁄2 in) in May 2007 in Zhaoqing.[6] The season was the peak of her career as she won the gold medal at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships in a comparatively low calibre field, where her throw of 60.58 m (198 ft 9 in) was sufficient to win by several metres.[7] She failed to make the Olympic team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, ending the season with a best of 62.51 m (205 ft 1 in) that year. She had a best of 64.38 m (211 ft 2+1⁄2 in) in 2009, but ceased to compete at a high level thereafter.[6]
References
edit- ^ Jalava, Mirko (2003-10-28). Xue Juan smashes the World Junior Javelin record in China's City Games Archived 2015-11-29 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
- ^ Hammer Throw - women - youth - outdoor Archived 2015-11-29 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
- ^ Jalava, Mirko (2005-04-12). Gu Yuan in top form as Chinese outdoor season opens Archived 2015-11-29 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
- ^ Hammer Throw - women - senior - outdoor - 2005 Archived 2015-11-29 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
- ^ Hammer Throw - women - senior - outdoor - 2006 Archived 2015-11-29 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
- ^ a b Liao Xiaoyan Archived 2015-11-29 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
- ^ Asian Championships - Day One Archived 2015-11-29 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF (2007-07-26). Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
